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What did Ford say? It's far from clear: Public Editor

‘While I do believe what Rob Ford said matters to the historical and public record of Ford’s troubled tenure – and to the journalistic record of covering this wild story — I do not see any clear answers regarding Ford’s exact words.

Rob Ford in the infamous video of the late Toronto mayor smoking from what appears to be a crack pipe. (HANDOUT / REUTERS)

But, throughout the past week, we have heard from a handful of readers in emails — and more vociferously via social media – about the discrepancies between Ford’s exact words as they appear in the official transcript that accompanies the now-released video and what the Star first reported that Ford “appeared to say” in May 2013 when it broke its bombshell story about two Star reporters having seen a video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine.

Essentially these discrepancies come down to a couple of questions related to what was has long been characterized as Ford’s “homophobic and racist” comments: Did the clearly incoherent Ford use the words “fat d**k” in referring to Justin Trudeau – as the accompanying video transcript released by the court states, or, did Ford call Trudeau a “fag” as reporters Kevin Donovan and Robyn Doolittle initially reported they believed they heard the mayor say when they viewed the 70-second iPhone video while sitting in a car in a dark parking lot unable to take any notes whatsoever.

As well, the court transcript, presumably prepared by Toronto police as evidence for court, records Ford as saying “F*** (inaudible) the minorities, dude”. In the Star’s original report, Donovan and Doolittle report that they heard Ford refer to “f***ing minorities.”

In looking into these concerns and calls for the Star to correct the record, I am at a loss to determine definitively what Ford actually said, both because of his incoherence and the quality of the video. But, given the discrepancies in what the now-public transcript tells us and what the Star first reported, I see need for clarification and further explanation from the reporters, who, I believe, did their best to discern Ford’s mumble-jumble of words under extremely challenging and somewhat dangerous circumstances.

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Donovan and Doolittle were also careful in their initial stories to make clear they were reporting what they believed Ford “appeared to say” when they viewed the video. But we well know that subsequent reports of what Ford allegedly said in that video came to take on a life of their own with some less-careful reports in the Star and other media stating as outright fact that Ford had called Trudeau a fag and referred to ‘f***ing minorities” in the crack cocaine video.

That’s not exactly what the court transcript tells us. But, watch the video and see for yourself what you think is clear fact here. I am not convinced even that the official transcript has nailed it. And, at this point, even the two reporters do not agree on what they see before them now that they, like all of us, can watch the video many times over.

Donovan told me he has watched the video several times since its release and he still believes Ford said what he first heard – and reported – he said.

“I hear him say ‘fag’ or ‘faggot’. I see people have suggested he says ‘he’s a fat d**k.’ That makes no sense,” said Donovan who recalls the sound on the video he and Doolittle watched as being clearer than what we can hear now.

“As to the ‘minorities’ comment, he definitely says ‘f**king...then something...and then ‘minorities.’ I can’t hear the words in between.”

For her part, Doolittle, who now reports for the Globe and Mail, addressed these discrepancies on social media last week, stating, “Watching it now, I don’t think you can hear Rob Ford call Justin Trudeau a fag.

“If you watch the video, at one point, Ford seemed to call Trudeau a “fat d**k”. Ford pronounced the “f” quite clearly and the rest is mumbled. That is where I heard ‘fag.’

“I also don’t think the former mayor said ‘f***king minorities’. Instead he said, ‘F**k. Just driving the minorities,’’ Doolittle wrote.

Donovan told me, and Doolittle confirmed this in her social media post, that the broker who was trying to sell the video to the Star for a six-figure payout had told them in advance that the video showed Ford calling Trudeau a “fag.” As well, Gawker, the New York website that broke the story about the video, after also having seen it, reported that Ford had called Trudeau a “faggot,” albeit, mistakenly referring to Pierre Trudeau, not Justin.

While I do believe what the now-deceased former mayor said matters to the historical and public record of his troubled tenure – and to the journalistic record of covering this wild story — I do not see any clear answers here regarding Ford’s exact words. What we do see for certain is the then-mayor of Toronto, obviously incoherent, smoking a crack pipe.

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